John McAfee On CNBC: How He Squandered Almost $100 Million, Why Bath Salts Are For Poor People, And Why He May Return To Belize To Save His Girlfriend

John McAfee, pioneer of the computer antivirus industry, is set to join the dozens of other candidates throwing their hat into the ring to become the next president of the United States. Photo: Reuters

When it comes to fugitive-turned-media spectacle John McAfee, the line between fact and fiction is ever so thin.

Not only are most of his claims dubious the second they leave his slick tongue, McAfee has also admitted that he faked a heart attack--which he self-reported on his blog and to media outlets--to avoid deportation to Belize.

If McAfee had a shred of credibility left before his staged cardiac arrest, that trust is gone after the guy we suspected of being a sham came clean--in at least one instance that we know of--of being just that--a charlatan willing to prance around verbally to draw more attention to himself, which is ironic because most fugitives favor a more clandestine existence.

McAfee, now stateside, continued his media blitzkrieg by appearing on CNBC Friday. If what McAfee says about Belize is true--that it's homicide-ridden dystopia where the government bleeds its own citizens, both financially and physically--then you'd think the tech mogul would never want to return to the purported wasteland he narrowly escaped to the U.S.

That's not what he told CNBC however.

Speaking about his 20-year-old girlfriend and her female friend, who McAfee used to date and who, in a very "Beverly Hills 90210" twist, he claims tried to kill him four times over jealousy, the anti-virus founder says he's compelled to return to Belize to rescue the pair.

“I would have to go back to prevent them from being tortured," he heroically told CNBC.

McAfee spoke on a number of other subjects, including how his $100 million fortune has dwindled down to $5 million, which he claims is being sucked up by the crooked politicians of Belize.

Beating back claims that he led a louche lifestyle in the country, McAfee told reporters he refused to keep company with drinkers there. He denied rumors that he used bath salts, not on the basis of finding the drug morally and physically objectionable, but because "bath salts are used by people who don’t have a lot of money."

By his own admittance, McAfee may now be one of those people without money he so detests.